Method, system, and storage device for clique based social networking and social graphing

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and storage device for clique based social networking and social graphing allowing users to create one or more networks each containing one or more connections, create postings or other information that trickles down to other users according to a set of rules wherein certain connections must be present to be in-network to a primary user.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 12/414,291 originally entitled “A METHOD, SYSTEM,AND STORAGE DEVICE FOR JOB POSTING, MATCHING, AND REFERRAL” and lateramended to be titled “METHOD, SYSTEM, AND STORAGE DEVICE FOR CLIQUEBASED SOCIAL NETWORKING AND SOCIAL GRAPHING” filed Mar. 30, 2009, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/040,679entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM, AND STORAGE DEVICE FOR JOB POSTING, MATCHING,RATING, AND REFERRAL” filed on Mar. 30, 2008

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed subject matter relates primarily to systems and methodsfor clique based social networking and social graphing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, traditional job posting services maintain databases of jobpositions and job seekers (e.g. Monster.com™) The job positions areposted by employers seeking to hire new employees. Whereas the jobapplicants search the job positions and submit their information to theemployer. Conversely, the employer can search the job applicant databasein order to find potential candidates.

One of the problems with the traditional job posting service is it onlyallows employers to disseminate their job postings to people activelyseeking new employment. Only job seekers who are actively seeking newemployment would search and apply for a position listed on a traditionaljob posting service. Consequently, the job postings are seen by a verysmall percentage of the total workforce. Furthermore, the only way toincrease the number of potential job applicants is through traditionalmarketing which is very costly.

More recently, professional social networking styles of job postingservices have come into the main stream. Most of these professionalsocial networking services use a degree of separation (“DoS”) style oflogic. Each “level” of group away from a particular person is a degreeof separation (“DoS”) (this is similar to a family tree). For example,in FIG. 1, user A 100 invites users B1 102, B2 104, and B3 106(collectively “B Users”); user B2 104 invites users C1 108 and C2 110(collectively “C Users”); and user C1 108 invites users D1 112 and D2114 (collectively “D Users”). From A's 100 perspective, the B Users areone (1) DoS, the C Users are two (2) DoS, and the D Users are three (3)DoS away from A 100. Therefore, if the system allowed for a user toconverse with a person up to three DoS away, A 100 could disseminate ajob posting with all the parties; however, if the system only allowedcommunication up to two DoS, then the D Users would not receive the jobposting because they are three (3) DoS away from A 100. Extending theDoS example, from C1's 108 perspective, D1 112, D2 114, and B2 104 areall one (1) DoS away but C2 110 is two (2) DoS away because C1 108 wouldneed to traverse first to B2 104, then to C2 110.

One such professional social networking system using DoS style logic isLinkedIn™. LinkedIn™ is focused on allowing users to build a network ofpeers and disseminate job postings to the connections in the network.More specifically, LinkedIn™ allows users to notify people in theirnetwork (within one DoS) via email. The basis behind this type ofprofessional social networking is having users sign up with the serviceand invite peers to join as “connections.” Once the invited personaccepts the invitation, the peers are linked to the inviting person'snetwork. Later, the friends would invite other peers building their ownnetworks. However, each user is permitted to have only one network. Thistype of professional social networking allows people to view otherparticipants networks up to a predefined number of DoS away, providedthe other user has permitted his or her network to be seen by otherusers. The user may then disseminate job postings to some or all thepeople within one DoS of the user.

The professional social networking services introduce several additionalproblems. First, some sites limit each user to having only one network.This means all of the users contacts or friends are all in the samenetwork leading to unwieldy, cumbersome, and overly large networks withno way of segregating different types of friends and/or contacts. Forexample, there is no way to segregate business contacts from friends;they are all in the same network. This means, by using traditional DoSlogic, any job listing would be shared with everyone in a user's networknot just the user's business contacts. Further, some sites restrict auser to either have all of that user's contacts available orunavailable—there is no way to limit or classify which contacts will beavailable to other users or groups of users. This introduces the secondmajor problem; the network cannot be used to target the job position toa particular type of person. The job posting is disseminated to all ofthe friends and/or contacts of a user within a certain DoS. This meansthe job posting is shared or blasted to people whose only qualificationis being within a certain DoS from someone else. Furthermore, as the DoSincreases the link to the initial person becomes tenuous—the fartheraway from the initial person, the less likely the recipient will besimilar to and/or have a strong or meaningful relationship with theinitial person. An additional problem is the lack of a way to provideusers of the professional networking service to refer potentialcandidates. The system is limited to disseminating the job to thosepeople who are part of the professional networking service and within acertain DoS. Yet another problem is there is no way for an employer torestrict job postings from other job post authors flowing to theirnetwork. It is common for employers to have their employees as part oftheir network. By allowing job postings to flow through the employerdirectly to their employees, the employer is allowing its employee baseto be cannibalized by other job posters.

These problems amass to create an increasingly difficult and cumbersomemethod for employers to locate potential employees.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is a need for a method, system, and/or storage device that allowsemployers to disseminate job postings to specific people and then havethose job postings disseminated through those people's networks to usersthat are more likely to have relationships with each other such assimilarly situated persons and/or highly rated persons without theconcern of cannibalizing their own workforce. There is also a need for amethod, system, and/or storage device that allows employers to offerreferral rewards to people who refer potential candidates and/or thecandidate that is ultimately hired.

One aspect of the disclosed subject matter is allowing users to createan unlimited number of networks.

Another aspect of the disclosed subject matter is providing a referralreward system.

An additional aspect of the disclosed subject matter is thedissemination of job listings to similarly situated people taking intoaccount both their degree of separation from the job poster and theother users they are grouped with.

An additional aspect of the disclosed subject matter is thedissemination of job listings to similarly situated people taking intoaccount their rating.

These and other aspects of the disclosed subject matter, as well asadditional novel features, will be apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The intent of this summary is not to be a comprehensivedescription of the claimed subject matter, but rather to provide a shortoverview of some of the subject matter's functionality. Other systems,methods, features and advantages here provided will become apparent toone with skill in the art upon examination of the following FIGUREs anddetailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems,methods, features and advantages that are included within thisdescription, be within the scope of the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, nature, and advantages of the disclosed subject matterwill become more apparent from the detailed description set forth belowwhen taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a graphical representation of a traditional degree ofseparation model.

FIG. 2 illustrates a computer system and related peripherals that mayoperate with the job posting and matching service of the presentembodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts a graphical view of the hierarchical associations of thejob posting and matching service of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts a graphical view of the job posting disseminationstructure of the job posting and matching service of the presentembodiment.

FIG. 5 depicts a graphical view of the system recommendation process.

FIG. 6 depicts a graphical view of the system recommendation processincluding the ratings of the PU.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS (CAN THIS BE DONE BYREFERENCE?)

Although described with reference to personal computers and theInternet, one skilled in the art could apply the principles discussedherein to any computing or mobile computing environment. Further, oneskilled in the art could apply the principles discussed herein tocommunication mediums beyond the Internet.

With reference to FIG. 2, an exemplary system within a computingenvironment for implementing the invention includes a general purposecomputing device in the form of a computing system 200, commerciallyavailable from Intel, IBM, AMD, Motorola, Cyrix and others. Componentsof the computing system 202 may include, but are not limited to, aprocessing unit 204, a system memory 206, and a system bus 236 thatcouples various system components including the system memory to theprocessing unit 204. The system bus 236 may be any of several types ofbus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

Computing system 200 typically includes a variety of computer readablemedia. Computer readable media can be any available media that can beaccessed by the computing system 200 and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, and removable and non-removable media. By way ofexample, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprisecomputer storage media and communication media. Computer storage mediaincludes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage of information suchas computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data.

Computer memory includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canbe accessed by the computing system 200.

The system memory 206 includes computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 210and random access memory (RAM) 212. A basic input/output system 214(BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within computing system 200, such as during start-up,is typically stored in ROM 210. RAM 212 typically contains data and/orprogram modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presentlybeing operated on by processing unit 204. By way of example, and notlimitation, an operating system 216, application programs 220, otherprogram modules 220 and program data 222 are shown.

Computing system 200 may also include other removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only, ahard disk drive 224 that reads from or writes to non-removable,nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive 226 that reads from orwrites to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 228, and an opticaldisk drive 230 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatileoptical disk 232 such as a CD ROM or other optical media could beemployed to store the invention of the present embodiment. Otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage mediathat can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but arenot limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalversatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM,and the like. The hard disk drive 224 is typically connected to thesystem bus 236 through a non-removable memory interface such asinterface 234, and magnetic disk drive 226 and optical disk drive 230are typically connected to the system bus 236 by a removable memoryinterface, such as interface 238.

The drives and their associated computer storage media, discussed above,provide storage of computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules and other data for the computing system 200. Forexample, hard disk drive 224 is illustrated as storing operating system268, application programs 270, other program modules 272 and programdata 274. Note that these components can either be the same as ordifferent from operating system 216, application programs 220, otherprogram modules 220, and program data 222. Operating system 268,application programs 270, other program modules 272, and program data274 are given different numbers hereto illustrates that, at a minimum,they are different copies.

A user may enter commands and information into the computing system 200through input devices such as a tablet, or electronic digitizer, 240, amicrophone 242, a keyboard 244, and pointing device 246, commonlyreferred to as a mouse, trackball, or touch pad. These and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit 204 through a userinput interface 248 that is coupled to the system bus 208, but may beconnected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallelport, game port or a universal serial bus (USB).

A monitor 250 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 208 via an interface, such as a video interface 252. Themonitor 250 may also be integrated with a touch-screen panel or thelike. Note that the monitor and/or touch screen panel can be physicallycoupled to a housing in which the computing system 200 is incorporated,such as in a tablet-type personal computer. In addition, computers suchas the computing system 200 may also include other peripheral outputdevices such as speakers 254 and printer 256, which may be connectedthrough an output peripheral interface 258 or the like.

Computing system 200 may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remotecomputing system 260. The remote computing system 260 may be a personalcomputer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or othercommon network node, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to the computing system 200, although only amemory storage device 262 has been illustrated. The logical connectionsdepicted include a local area network (LAN) 264 connecting throughnetwork interface 276 and a wide area network (WAN) 266 connecting viamodem 278, but may also include other networks. Such networkingenvironments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computernetworks, intranets and the Internet.

For example, in the present embodiment, the computer system 200 maycomprise the source machine from which data is beinggenerated/transmitted, and the remote computing system 260 may comprisethe destination machine. Note however that source and destinationmachines need not be connected by a network or any other means, butinstead, data may be transferred via any media capable of being writtenby the source platform and read by the destination platform orplatforms.

The central processor operating pursuant to operating system softwaresuch as IBM OS/2®, Linux®, UNIX®, Microsoft Windows®, Apple Mac OSX® andother commercially available operating systems provides functionalityfor the services provided by the present invention. The operating systemor systems may reside at a central location or distributed locations(i.e., mirrored or standalone).

Software programs or modules instruct the operating systems to performtasks such as, but not limited to, facilitating client requests, systemmaintenance, security, data storage, data backup, data mining,document/report generation and algorithms. The provided functionalitymay be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by aprocessor or in any combination of the two.

Furthermore, software operations may be executed, in part or wholly, byone or more servers or a client's system, via hardware, software moduleor any combination of the two. A software module (program or executable)may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROMmemory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, DVD, opticaldisk or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplarystorage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor canread information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Inthe alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.The processor and the storage medium may also reside in an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC). The bus may be an optical orconventional bus operating pursuant to various protocols that are wellknown in the art.

FIG. 3 depicts a graphical view of the hierarchical associations of thejob posting and matching service of the present embodiment. The systemallows users to create multiple groups of friends called Talent Networksfor employers and Personal Networks for job seekers (collectively “TN”).When creating a TN, the user assigns it a unique name. The user may haveany number of TNs; however, each must have a different name. Aftercreating the TN, the user may add contacts to the TN. In order to addsomeone to a TN the user must already have a relationship (through thesystem) with that contact. To form a relationship with a contact, theinviter (the user inviting the contact to join) invites the invitee (theuser being invited) to become a connection of the inviter. If theinvitee is already a member of the system, the invitee only needs toaccept the invitation; however, if the invitee is not a member of thesystem, the invitee would first be given the option of joining thesystem and then, after joining, could accept the invitation. Once theinvitee accepts the invitation, the relationship is called a connection.The invitation notification may be by any method, but in one embodimentis an email provided emails are permitted by the recipient's settings.Each TN may have any number of connections associated with it andindividual connections can be assigned to multiple TNs.

Cachinko™ (a trademark of Cachinko, LLC) Degrees of Separation (“CDoS”)is determined by analyzing connections and associations. As withtraditional DoS, the CDoS must be analyzed with reference to oneuser—this user is called the Primary User (“PU”). The CDoS will be bestunderstood by reference to specific examples. In one embodiment, to be“in-network” to the PU, the user must be within the first three CDoS asdescribed below. In alternative embodiments, different users and/oraccounts could have fewer or greater levels of CDoS to be consideredin-network.

1^(st) CDoS

All users directly connected to the PU and assigned to one or more ofthe PU's talent networks are the 1^(st) CDoS users. Therefore, referringto FIG. 3, You 300 is the PU and Bob, Tim, Harry and Sally are all1^(st) CDoS users from You 300 because each has a direct connection toYou 300. 1^(st) CDoS users are also referred to as 1^(st) DegreeConnections.

2^(nd) CDoS

For clarity of explanation only, a complete path will be analyzed beforeundertaking a new path. To be a 2^(nd) CDoS user, the user must beassociated with a TN of a 1^(st) CDoS user and the PU must also beassociated with that same TN. Referring back to FIG. 3, for clarity ofexplanation Bob's path will be analyzed first. Bob has two TNs: FratBuddies 306 and Co-Workers 308. You 300 is not associated with the FratBuddies TN 306 and therefore neither Howard nor George are 2^(nd) CDoSusers by virtue of the Frat Buddies TN 306; however, You 300 isassociated with the Co-Workers 308 TN and therefore Courtney is a 2^(nd)CDoS user. It may be helpful to note that You 300 is not a 2^(nd) CDoSuser because You 300 is the PU (a user cannot be 2^(nd) CDoS to thatsame user—put a different way, a user that already has a designationwill not be re-designated as a higher designation; e.g. a 1DTU will notbe re-designated as a 2DTU). 2^(nd) CDoS users are also referred to as2^(nd) Degree Connections.

3^(rd) CDoS

To be a 3^(rd) CDoS user, the user must be associated with a TN of a2^(nd) CDoS user and the 1^(st) CDoS user of the path currently beinganalyzed must also be associated with the TN. Continuing analyzing thesame path (Bob's in this example), we only analyze those sub-TNs of2^(nd) CDoS users that are in-network to the PU. Here, Courtney is inYou's 300 network (because she is a 2^(nd) CDoS user), therefore,Courtney's TNs are analyzed. Courtney has three TNs: College Alumni 310,Friends 312, and Buddies 314. Bob is the 1^(st) CDoS user of the pathcurrently being analyzed; therefore, to be a 3^(rd) CDoS user, Bob mustbe associated with the TN. Bob is not associated with the College AlumniTN 310 or the Buddies TN 314, therefore, none of the users associatedwith those TNs are in You's 300 network by virtue of their associationwith those TNs; however, Bob is associated with the Friends TN 312,therefore, Malcom is a 3^(rd) CDoS user and in You's 300 network. Note,Bob is not “reclassified” as a 3^(rd) CDoS because of his associationwith the Friends TN 312. A user retains the user's closest designation;therefore, Bob remains a 1^(st) CDoS user. Note, with respect to theBuddies TN 314, it is not sufficient that Tim is a 1^(st) CDoS user orthat Tim was in the same TN as Bob (the Microsoft.Net Architects TN 302)to make Larry a 3^(rd) CDoS user—the TN must contain the 1^(st) CDoSuser of the path currently being analyzed; therefore, Larry is notwithin You's 300 network. 3^(rd) CDoS users are also referred to as3^(rd) Degree Connections.

N^(th) CDoS

Continuing this logic forward, to be on the N^(th) CDoS, the user mustbe associated with a TN of a N-1 CDoS user and the N-2 CDoS user of thepath currently being analyzed must also be associated with that TN.

Although discussed herein as analyzing a single path at a time, thisdisclosure is intended to include analyzing any number of paths seriallyand/or concurrently and/or in different order. In an alternativeembodiment, additional criteria or users could be added to expand orcontract who is included in each successive CDoS such as the Nth CDoSusers are users that are associated with a N-1 CDoS User's TN where thesame TN also contains at least one associated user that is: a N-2 and/orN-3 CDoS user; N-2, N-3, and/or N-4 CDoS user; any of the precedingCDoS; etc.

FIG. 4 depicts a more involved and detailed graphical view of thehierarchical associations and CDoS of the job posting and matchingservice of the present embodiment. Again the same logic for CDoS is usedto analyze who is in network to the PU. Mike 320 is the PU in thisexample. All users directly connected to Mike 320 are 1^(st) CDoS users:Bob, George, and Sally 326. Again, for clarity of explanation only, eachpath will be fully analyzed prior to starting another path.

Bob's Path

Bob has two TNs: Family 328 and Nerds 330. Again, to be a 2^(nd) CDoSuser, the user must be associated with a TN of a 1^(st) CDoS user andthe PU must also be associated with that TN. Only the Nerds TN 330 alsohas Mike 320 (the PU) associated with it; therefore, for this path onlyRajen is a 2^(nd) CDoS user. Continuing along Rajen's path, Rajen alsohas two TNs: Real Estate 338 and Smart People 340. Again, to be a 3^(rd)CDoS user, the user must be associated with a TN of a 2^(nd) CDoS userand the 1^(st) CDoS user of the current path must also be associatedwith that TN. Here, the 1^(st) CDoS user of the current path is Bob;therefore, Bob must also be associated with the TN. Bob is onlyassociated with the Real Estate TN 338; therefore, for this path, onlyJohn and Lola are 3^(rd) CDoS users. Because there are no additionalpaths to take under any 2^(nd) CDoS user (and we are only analyzingthrough the 3^(rd) CDoS), the next 1^(st) CDoS user is analyzed.

George's Path

George also has only two TNs: College 332 and Co-Workers 334. BecauseMike 320 (the PU) is only a member of the Co-Workers TN 334 (and not theCollege TN 332), only Cindy and Carol are 2^(nd) CDoS users. Continuingalong Cindy's path, Cindy has only the Family TN 342. Here, for any ofthe users in the Family TN 342 to be 3^(rd) CDoS users, George (the1^(st) CDoS user of the current path) must also be associated with theTN. Therefore, Felipe and Alex are both 3^(rd) CDoS users. Now the next2^(nd) CDoS user will be analyzed. Continuing along Carol's path, Carolhas three TNs: Friends 344, Software 346, and High School 348. Here, the1^(st) CDoS user of the current path is George; therefore, George mustalso be associated with the TN. George is only a member of the FriendsTN 344 and the High School TN 348; therefore, for this path, Abraham,Juda, and Ed are all 3^(rd) CDoS users. Because there are no additionalpaths to take under any 2^(nd) CDoS user (and we are only analyzingthrough the 3^(rd) CDoS), the next 1^(st) CDoS user is analyzed.

Sally's Path

Sally 326 only has the Best Friends TN 336. Again, to be a 2^(nd) CDoSuser, the user must be associated with a TN of a 1^(st) CDoS user andthe PU must also be associated with that TN. Here, Mike 320 isassociated with the Best Friends TN 336; therefore, Jack is also a2^(nd) CDoS user.

Summary

The 1^(st) CDoS users are: Bob, George, and Sally. The 2nd CDoS usersare: Rajen, Cindy, Carol, and Jack. The 3^(rd) CDoS users are: John,Lola, Felipe, Alex, Abraham, Juda, and Ed. According to one embodiment,these are all the users that are in network to Mike 320. Note: Lola isalso in the College TN 332; however, because Mike 320 is not a member ofthe College TN 332, Lola is not included as a 2^(nd) CDoS user by virtueof her association in the College TN 332—she is a 3^(rd) CDoS user byher association with the Real Estate TN 338.

When creating a job posting, the job post author first outlines the job,which may include information such as: title, salary, travelrequirements, responsibilities, qualifications, referral rewardsoffered, etc. Once the job posting is complete, the job post authorselects which of the job poster's connections the user would like topublish the job posting to. In addition to individual connections, thejob post author can publish the job posting to one or more of the jobpost author's TNs. For example, referring back to FIG. 4, if Mike 320prepares a job posting and then selects the Co-Workers TN 324 and Sally326 to receive notification of the job posting, the system willautomatically disseminate the job posting (trickling down) via the CDoSlogic. Therefore, if Mike 320 selected the Co-Workers TN 324 and Sally326 to receive the notification of the job posting, then all users inMike's 320 network would also receive the job notification: Bob, George,Sally 326, Rajen, Cindy, Carol, Jack, John, Lola, Felipe, Alex, Abraham,Juda, and Ed.

However, if Mike 320 only selected Bob and Sally 326 to receive the jobnotification (and not George), then Cindy, Carol, Felipe, Alex, Abraham,Juda, and Ed would no longer receive the job post notification becauseeach of them was in Mike's 320 network by virtue of their associationwith George. By removing George from the initial job post notification,any user who would have otherwise received notification of the jobposting by virtue of their association with George would no longerreceive the notification.

In one embodiment the system would not automatically disseminate jobpostings through an employer's account to the employer's connectionsthereby protecting the employer's investment in its employees. In analternative embodiment, the employer could toggle whether to allow jobpostings to filter through to the employer's connections. In yet anotherembodiment, employers could flag individual TNs and/or users to allow orprohibit job postings from trickling down to those TNs and/or users. Byallowing employer's to restrict job postings from trickling down, theemployer can make connections with its employees without fear of itsemployee base being cannibalized because of the employer's membership tothe system.

Though this example, and one embodiment only discuss automaticallydisseminating the job posting up to three CDoS from the job post author,any fewer or greater CDoS away from the job post author is intended tobe included within this disclosure.

The notification could be by: email, online alert, text message (e.g.short message service), instant message, voice message, voice mail,telephone notification, desktop widget, mobile web, etc. In oneembodiment, the notification would be sent via email to those contactsthat requested email notification, and would be displayed in the “My JobLeads” section of each user that received the notification. In analternative embodiment, if a job posting is renewed, then thenotification is resent to all users who, at the time of the renewal,would fall within the preset number of CDoS at the time the job postingwas renewed.

A person with ordinary skill in the art could expand, combine, and adaptthese concepts to include or exclude additional users, tiers, CDoS, etc.

Another aspect of the disclosed subject matter is allowing users whocreate job postings to offer referral rewards to other users. In oneembodiment, there are two types of referral awards: (i) IntroductionRewards and (ii) Placement Rewards. An Introduction Reward is a sum ofmoney paid from the employer to a user who introduces a potentialcandidate to the job placement author. A Placement Reward is a sum ofmoney paid from the employer to a user who introduced the candidate whowas ultimately hired, to the job placement author. In one embodiment,when a job posting is made from an employer account, the job post authormust provide at least an Introduction Reward and may also offer aPlacement Reward. In an alternative embodiment, a job posting made froman employer account could elect to offer none, one, or more of thereferral rewards. In yet another embodiment, individual users may offerone or more of the referral rewards upon making a job posting. In stillanother embodiment, individual users may be required to offer one ormore referral awards upon making a job posting.

When a user believes the user knows a good candidate for a particularjob posting, the user may refer the candidate for the job. In oneembodiment, the referrer (the user making the referral) must be withintwo CDoS of the employer; the referee (the user being referred) must bewithin one CDoS of the referrer; and the referee must be within threeDoS of the employer. Further, users are limited in the number ofreferrals they may make per job post to keep the referrals of a highquality. Also in one embodiment, if the referrer is a 2^(nd) CDoS userof the employer then any referral awards would be split with the 1^(st)CDoS user immediately upstream from the referrer. If there were multiple1^(st) CDoS users immediately upstream from the referrer (e.g. there aremultiple 1^(st) CDoS users that have the referrer as a connection andthat, by virtue of that connection, the referrer is in network to theemployer) the referrer would choose a 1^(st) CDoS user to split thereferral with. In an alternative embodiment, the referral award would besplit amongst all the 1^(st) CDoS users immediately upstream from thereferrer.

The system would notify the referee (person being referred) (in oneembodiment, this notification is via an email and/or an online notationin the referee's account) explaining the referee has been referred for ajob posting. If the referee was not already a member of the system, thereferee would be invited to join the system. If the referee was alreadya member of the system, or signed up in response to the referralnotification, the referee could then review the job posting and chooseto move forward with the referral or not. In an alternative embodiment,the referee would not be queried as to whether the referee wanted tomove forward with the referral. If the candidate chose to move forward,the job post author would receive notification of the potentialrecommendation. The job post author would be able to review certainnon-identifying information about the potential candidate. Suchnon-identifying information could include: experience, past employers,current employment status, education, desired salary, number of timesthe potential candidate has been recommended for a job, number of timesand percentage of success that the recommending user has recommendedcandidates, etc.; however, the last name, contact information, and/orother identifiable information of the potential candidate would bewithheld from the job post author at this time. In an additionalembodiment, the job post author could require the referee to answer aquestionnaire that would also be provided to the job post author. Afterthe job post author reviewed the potential candidate's non-identifiableinformation and/or questionnaire, the job post author could eitheraccept the referral or reject the referral. If the job post authorrejects the referral, no payment is made to the referrer (the usermaking the referral) and the job post author does not receive any of thepotential candidate's identifiable (e.g. contact) information. If thejob post author accepts the referral, the referrer is immediately paidthe Introduction Reward and the referee's identifiable information isreleased to the job post author.

The Placement Reward is similar to the Introduction Reward except thatthe Placement Reward is only paid if the referee was actually hired forthe position. If the referee was hired, the Placement Reward would bepaid to the referrer; otherwise, no payment is made. In one embodiment,the job post author would log into their account and indicate whetherthe referee was hired and if so, pay the referrer.

In one embodiment, the money transfer is handled through PayPal™;however, in an alternative embodiment any monetary exchange system ormethod could be used to effectuate the reward transfer. Though thereferral rewards are discussed herein as payments of money, any otherform of reward or incentive could be used.

The system will also provide users the opportunity to rate other usersand job postings. In one embodiment the rating system would have fivelevels ranging from “poor” to “hot” for a job posting and from “poor” to“top” for a contact or potential job candidate. In one embodiment, userswill be able to see an average rating for a particular user or jobposting, but users will not be able to view how other individual usershave rated a particular user or job posting. A user may change or cleara rating for a user or job posting at any time.

FIG. 5 depicts a graphical view of the system recommendation process.When an employer (or in an alternative embodiment, when a job seeker) issearching for a job candidate, all candidates that match the employer'ssearch criteria will be analyzed by the system according to the ratingsthat each potential job candidate has been given by certain users inorder to decide which of those candidates to recommend to the employer.In one embodiment, only users that are in-network are analyzed for therecommendation process; however, in alternative embodimentsout-of-network and/or a combination could be searched. An example of oneembodiment recommendation process from a job post author's perspectiveis shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5, the PU (Mike in this example)360 is the user who conducted the search looking for potential jobcandidates and therefore all references to CDoS users are from the PU's(Mike in this example) 360 perspective. The stars above a user's namerepresent the rating given to that user from the user immediatelyupstream. For example, George 364 was rated by PU (Mike in this example)360 as 4 but rated by Sally 366 as a 1.

For FIG. 5, the following table of definitions has been included forclarity.

PU Primary User The User that executed the search, and is requesting theresults. This person will obtain the system recommendations for thesearch he or she is performing. UR User Rating Any rating assigned by auser (the “assigning user”) to another user that is a 1^(st) CDoS userof the assigning user. NOTE: in one embodiment any user may rate anyother user in the system; however, for clarity, the above definition hasbeen employed throughout FIG. 5. RR Required Rating The threshold ratingthat is required to be recommended. 1DAU 1^(st) Degree Analyzed User Any1^(st) CDoS user that has a UR from the PU that equals or exceeds theRR. 2DAU 2^(nd) Degree Analyzed User Any 2^(nd) CDoS user that has a URfrom at least one of the immediately preceding IDTU(s) that equals orexceeds the RR. 3DAU 3^(rd) Degree Analyzed User Any 3^(rd) CDoS userthat has a UR from at least one of the immediately preceding 2DTU(s)that equals or exceeds the RR. 1DCAU 1^(st) Degree Currently The 1DAUthat the system is Analyzed User currently analyzing. 2DCAU 2^(nd)Degree Currently The 2DAU that the system is Analyzed User currentlyanalyzing. 3DCAU 3^(rd) Degree Currently The 3DAU that the system isAnalyzed User currently analyzing. 1DTU 1^(st) Degree Trusted User A1^(st) CDoS user that is marked by the system for recommendation. 2DTU2^(nd) Degree Trusted User A 2^(nd) CDoS user that is marked by thesystem for recommendation. 3DTU 3^(rd) Degree Trusted User A 3^(rd) CDoSuser that is marked by the system for recommendation.

For each search executed, the system performs the following steps inorder to decide whether or not to recommend the contacts obtained duringthe search.

Identify 1^(st) Degree Trusted Users (1DTU)

If the 1DCAU of the PU has a rating equal to or greater than the RR ANDif no other 1DAU has a UR for the 1DCAU, then the 1DCAU becomes a 1DTU;

ELSE IF

If the average (“AVG”) of (1DAUs UR of 1DCAU plus the PU's UR of the1DCAU) is equal to or greater than the RR and if no other 2DAU has a URfor the 1DCAU, then the 1DCAU becomes a 1DTU;

ELSE IF

If the AVG of (2DAUs UR of 1DCAU plus 1DAUs UR of the 1DCAU plus thePU's UR of the 1DCAU) is equal to or greater than the RR then the 1DCAUbecomes a 1DTU.

Therefore, in this example, Bob 362 and Sally 366 are both 1DTUs becauseboth are 1st CDoS users from Mike 360, have an overall ranking above theRR, and are not ranked by any other 1DAU. Whereas, George 364 is a 1DAUbecause George's 364 rating did not exceed the RR: the average of therating given by Mike 360 (a rating of 4) and the rating given by Sally366 (a rating of 1). Note, George's 364 TNs are not duplicated belowSally 366 in this example merely for clarity.

Identify 2^(nd) Degree Trusted Users (2DTU)

If the 2DCAU has a rating equal to or greater than the RR AND if noother 2DAU or 1DTU has a UR for the 2DCAU, then the 2DCAU becomes a2DTU;

ELSE IF

If the AVG of (2DAUs UR of 2DCAU plus the 1DTUs UR of the 2DCAU) isequal to or greater than the RR then the 2DCAU becomes a 2DTU.

Therefore, in this example, Rajen 370 is a 2DTU because his rating fromBob 362 (who is a 1DTU) equal to or greater than the RR and Rajen 370 isnot ranked by any other 2DAU or 1DTU. Paco 374 is also a 2DTU becauseSally's 366 (who is a 1DTU) rating equal to or greater than the RR andPaco 374 is not ranked by any other 2DAU or 1DTU. George's 364 rating ofPaco 374 is not averaged into Paco's 374 score because George 364 is a1DAU and not a 2DAU or 1DTU. Note, Mike 360 is not reclassified as a2DAU because of the ratings he received from Sally 366 and Bob 362, Mike360 retains his original designation as the PU. Note, Julia 368 receivesno designation even though she has a rating in excess of the RR from Bob362 (who is a 1DTU) because Julia 368 is not in Mike's 360 network.

Identify 3^(rd) Degree Trusted Users (3DTU)

If the 3DCAU has a rating equal to or greater than the RR AND if noother 2DTU or 1DTU has a UR for the 3DCAU, then the 3DCAU becomes a3DTU;

ELSE IF

If the AVG of (2DTUs UR of 3DCAU plus the 1DTUs UR of the 3DCAU) isequal to or greater than the RR then the 3DCAU becomes a 3DTU.

Therefore, in this example, Linda 384 is a 3DTU because she was rated inexcess of the RR by Rajen 370 (a 2DTU) and no other 2DTUs or 1DTUs.Courtney 388 is only a 3DAU because Courtney 388 was rated 4 by Rajen370 (a 2DTU) and rated 1 by Paco 374 (a 2DTU) which averages to a 2.5which is below the RR. Finally, Abraham, George, and Juda receive nodesignations because they did not receive ratings from a 2DTU or 1DTU.Note, Daniel 382, Alex 392, Santos 394, and John 396 are not analyzedbecause they are not in Mike's 360 network.

In one embodiment the RR is 3.5 out of 5; however, in an alternativeembodiment the RR is any number between the lowest and highest rating.In yet another embodiment, the user performing the search can set the RRto any value between the lowest and highest rating. Though the rankingsystem and recommendation system are discussed with reference to a fivelevel rating system, this disclosure is intended to include fewer orgreater rating levels. Further, in one embodiment, multiple ratings areaveraged using a simple average; however, in alternative embodimentsother averaging methods may be used (e.g. median, mode, weightedaverage, etc.). Additionally, alternative weighting could be employed,such as: PU rating having the most weight; weight reducing in proportionto DoS from PU; weight reducing in proportion to CDoS from PU; oneweight for trusted users and a lower weight for analyzed users; etc.Note, in one embodiment the above calculations are conducted in realtime therefore, any change will cause a “recalculation” of therecommendations; however, in an alternative embodiment the abovecalculations are conducted at pre-determined intervals and/or times.

As discussed briefly previously, any user may rate any other user in thesystem. With regard to FIG. 5, only the rating of the immediatelypreceding user was shown and used for calculations in order to reduceclutter and complication in explanation. One embodiment, however, alsotakes into account the PU's rating of each user.

FIG. 6 depicts a graphical view of the system recommendation processincluding the ratings of the PU. As previously denoted, Sally 412 is a1DTU because she has a UR from Mike (PU) 410 greater than the RR and isnot rated by a 1DAU. Continuing from Sally 412, Paco 414 has received afour UR from both Sally 412 and Mike 410; therefore, Paco is a 2DTUbecause his average rating from both Sally 412 and Mike 410 exceeds theRR. Fred 416 is a 2DAU because he received a four UR from Sally 412, buthis average UR from Sally 412 and Mike 410 is not greater or equal tothe RR (6/2=3). Finally, because Larry 418 did not receive a UR that wasequal to or greater than the RR from either Sally 412 or Mike 410, he isnot analyzed. Note: Mike's 410, Paco's 414, Fred's 416, and Larry's 418respective connections (if any) are not reproduced under Sally 412 (orelsewhere in FIG. 6) to enhance clarity and reduce clutter. Alternativeembodiments include also accounting for: all trusted user's ratings; allanalyzed user's ratings; all user's ratings; and combinations andlimitations of the foregoing.

Finally, in one embodiment, the system marks for recommendations all1DTUs, 2DTUs and 3DTUs, displaying them on the top of the results page(if they also match the criteria searched by the user) and separatingthem from all the other search results. Additionally, in one embodiment,the employer is shown the rating the employer gave the candidate and the1^(st) CDoS user that has a connection to the recommended candidate. Inan alternative embodiment, the recommended candidates are displayed inorder of their calculated recommendation rating, from highest to lowest,and the remaining candidates follow. In yet another embodiment, theemployer is shown the calculated recommendation rating with or withoutthe rating the employer gave the candidate.

Though discussed here with specific reference to three levels andspecific logic on determining which users to recommend, one skilled inthe art could use this disclosure to combine and modify the foregoing toexpand, contract, or otherwise fine tune the number and quality of therecommendations. Furthermore, although described above with reference tothe CDoS, a person skilled in the art could modify, expand, or contractthe logic to include or exclude additional users (e.g. using acombination of DoS and CDoS).

Although the foregoing discussion on recommendations referenced therecommendation system for employers searching and/or the systemautomatically providing for job candidates, the same disclosure can beapplied to recommend job postings and/or job candidates to any users,and this disclosure is intended to include such. Similarly, although theforegoing discussion on recommendations referenced searching, the samedisclosure can be applied to the system automatically providingrecommended job candidates or job postings. In one embodiment, job postsrated greater than or equal to the RR by Trusted User(s) will berecommended. In an alternative embodiment, job posts rated greater thanor equal to the RR by in network user(s) will be recommended.

Those with skill in the arts will recognize that the disclosedembodiments have relevance to a wide variety of areas in addition tothose specific examples described herein.

All references, including publications, patent applications, andpatents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the sameextent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicatedto be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entiretyherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for clique based social networking andsocial graphing, the method executed on a processor and comprising:enrolling a plurality of users; permitting any of said plurality ofenrolled users to create a plurality of networks, each said networkassociated to at least one particular user; requiring said users toassociate at least one other user to each said network; permitting saidusers to associate at least one other network to each said network,wherein said at least one other user associated to said network may alsocreate a plurality of networks; storing said users, said networks, andsaid user's associations to said networks on a database system, saiddatabase system implemented on a non-transitory storage medium on acomputing system; designating one said user as a primary user;identifying said primary user's in-network users according to a set ofrules, said set of rules including: marking in said database system as afirst degree connection to said primary user all said users associatedwith at least one of said primary user's said networks; and marking insaid database system all said first degree connections as in-networkconnections to said primary user;
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein saidusers are registered users.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said usersare non-virtual items.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said computingsystem is a distributed system.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein saidin-network connections are visible to said primary user.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein said primary user is not required to have allin-network connections in a single network.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one of said networks is dynamically created by saidcomputing system.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said dynamicallycreated network is created by said computing system in response tosearch criteria.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of saidnetworks is dynamically created by or in response to a third partysystem.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said users issuggested to said primary user by said computing system and/or a thirdparty system.
 11. The method of claim 1, with the additional step ofpermitting said primary user to make one or more of said primary user'ssaid networks and/or said users associated with said primary user's saidnetworks accessible to at least another of: said primary user's saidnetworks; and/or said users associated with said primary user's saidnetworks.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said information is aposting and additionally including the steps of: receiving said postingfrom said primary user; storing said posting in said database system;designating one or more of said primary user's networks and/or one ormore of said users in said primary user's networks to receive saidposting; making accessible said posting to said one or more designatednetworks and/or one or more of said users in said primary user'snetworks.
 13. The method of claim 15, wherein said posting is one ormore of a photo, a link, a video, an article, a comment, an audiorecording, a message, an advertisement, a reward, a recognition, aquestion, or a suggestion.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein saidprimary user receives a reward, recognition, and/or a payment forsharing the information of said users associated with one or more ofsaid primary user's said networks or said in-network connections. 15.The method of claim 1, with the additional steps of: receiving a requestfrom at least one of said users to associate with at least one of saidnetworks, said request originating from a link, a button, or a widgetappearing on a third party computing system, wherein said link, saidbutton, or said widget is linked to at least one of said primary user'ssaid networks; and adding said requesting user to said primary user'ssaid network.
 16. The method of claim 1, with the additional steps of:receiving a request from at least one of said users, said requestoriginating from a link, a button, or a widget appearing on a thirdparty computing system; and either: adding said requesting user to atleast one of said existing networks; or said computing systemdynamically creating a new network and adding said requesting user tosaid new network.
 17. The method of claim 1, with the additional stepsof: receiving third party system content relating to said primary user,said primary user's said networks, and/or said users associated withsaid primary user's said networks; and/or transmitting informationand/or content relating to said primary user, said primary user's saidnetworks, and/or said users associated with said primary user's saidnetworks with one or more third party systems.
 18. The method of claim1, additionally comprising permitting said primary user to filterinformation and/or content of said users and/or networks.
 19. The methodof claim 1, additionally comprising the steps of: rating said primaryuser based on said primary user's interaction and behavior with thecomputing system; and/or rating said primary user based on theinteraction and behavior with the computing system of said usersassociated with said primary user's networks.
 20. The method of claim 1,additionally comprising rating one or more of said networks based on theinteraction and behavior with the computing system of said usersassociated with said network.